Supermain PVC-O Pipe
In late 2007 Vinidex was awarded the opportunity to provide pipeline materials for the PROMINENT HILL Borefield Transfer Pipeline. The pipeline is an essential piece of infrastructure that provides water for many communities from processing the raw materials, to potable consumption via on site reverse osmosis plant. Initially specified in PE, detailed cost benefit analysis revealed Supermain® PVC-O to be a more viable material option. Supermain® PVC-O pipes were seen to bring considerable advantages including operational and installation....read more
One of the leading innovations developed by Vinidex is Supermain® PVC-O.
Vinidex Supermain® Oriented PVC (PVC-O) pressure pipe is the most technically advanced PVC pipe available. This innovative pipe is ideally suited for general water supply, rising mains and other pressure applications.
The benefits of PVC pressure pipes have been well established over their long service history. Molecular orientation further enhances the mechanical properties of PVC, requiring less energe to produce than conventional PVC whilst conferring considerable performance advantages.
¹CSIRO study: M.D. Ambrose G.D. Salomonsson and S. Burn, CSIRO, Australia “Piping Systems – Embodied Energy Analysis”
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Supermain® Design & Installation
Lateral Loadings & Negative Pressures
Jointing to Ductile Iron Fittings
Benefits
- High flow capacity
- Material and energy efficient – environmentally more sustainable
- High impact strength
- High toughness
- Excellent damage tolerance
- Light weight
- Corrosion resistant
- High fatigue strength
Product information
Standards for PVC-O Pipe
Supermain® PVC-O pipes are manufactured in accordance with AS4441 (Int):2003 - Oriented PVC (PVC-O) pipes for pressure applications". This standard replicates the requirements of ISO/DIS 16422 "Pipes and joints made of oriented unplasticized poly vinyl chloride (PVC-O) for water transport specifications, with
some additional requirements for Australia".
Material Classification
AS4441 (Int) covers a range of PVC-O pipe materials, classified by their Minimum Required Strength or MRS value which is specified in MPa. Supermain® pipes are manufactured to MRS classes from 355 to 500.
| Material Class | MRS (MPa) |
| Supermain® 355 | 35.5 |
| Supermain® 400 | 40.0 |
| Supermain® 450 | 45.0 |
| Supermain® 500 | 50.0 |
Pipe Classes
Supermain® pipes are classified in terms of their nominal working pressure at 20°C. Pressure classes are identified by their PN designation as shown in the table across.
| Maximum Working Pressure | PN10 | PN12.5 | PN16 | PN20 |
| MPa | 1.00 | 1.25 | 1.60 | 2.00 |
| m head | 102 | 127 | 163 | 204 |
Note: Other classes may be available for special projects.
Contact Vinidex for further information Pipe Dimensions
Pipe Dimensions
Supermain® pipes are manufactured in two diameter series, International (ISO) Series dimensions and Series 2 (DICL compatable) dimensions. Supermain® pipes are supplied in standard 6m effective lengths.
Jointing
Supermain® pipes are supplied with integral sockets for rubber ring jointing. The integral joints are capable of 1° deflection. Further deflection can be achieved using deflection couplings. Contact Vinidex for more information. Solvent cements should not be used with Supermain® pipes.
Fittings
A complete range of pipeline fittings is available for Supermain® pipes to form a total pipeline system.
Performance
Tensile Strength
- The long term hydrostatic strength of PVC-O is up to twice that of ordinary PVC-U materials
- Taking advantage of this superior strength allows the same pressure class of pipe to be manufactured with a larger bore
Flow Capacity
- Supermain® pipes have excellent hydraulic performance. Their flow capacity exceeds that of any other commonly used pressure pipe in water and sewer applications
- A comparison of the relative hydraulic capacity of Supermain®, Series 2 PVC-U and DICL pipe is shown below. The information given in the flow comparisons and flow charts is based on the Colebrook-White formula with water at 20°C and the following roughness coefficients: For PVC-O and PVC-U, k=0.003, for DICL, k=0.03. For information on varying these parameters, refer to Vinidex Friction Loss in Uniform Fluid Flow (FLUFF) software
For Gravity Flow Situations
Comparing the discharge Q in Litres/second from a 100m length of pipe at a constant hydraulic gradient (H/L) of 1m/100m . DN100 Supermain® pipe delivers 12.1 litres per second compared to 9.2 and 7.5 for PVC-U and DICL respectively.
| Nom. Diameter | Supermain® PN16 | PVC-U PN16 | DICL K9 | Increase over PVC-U | Increase over DICL |
| DN100 | 12.1L/s | 9.2L/s | 7.5L/s | 31% | 61% |
| DN150 | 32.6L/s | 25.0L/s | 24.4L/s | 30% | 34% |
| DN200 | 68.4L/s | 53.4L/s | 52.2L/s | 28% | 31% |
Comparing the head loss to a given discharge (pumping costs are related to friction losses).
Impact Stength
| Supermain® PN16 | PVC-U PN16 | DICL PN16 | ||
| DN100 | Q=10L/s | 0.72 | 1.17 | 1.72 |
| DN150 | Q=30L/s | 0.86 | 1.39 | 1.47 |
| DN200 | Q=40L/s | 0.39 | 0.59 | 0.61 |
- Supermain® exhibits extraordinary resistance to impact. Tests on Supermain® show impact rupture energies up to 10 times that of standard PVC-U
- Standard impact tests are carried out at 0°C because the mass required to test the pipe at 20°C is impracticable for normal test equipment. DN 375 pipes are tested using a 16kg ball dropped from a height of 2 metres above the sample
- The unorthodox "field test" on pressurised pipe (below) illustrates the superior impact resistance of Supermain® pipe
- Toughness is a material's ability to resist brittle crack propagation
- Marshal (1989)¹ investigated this property. He demonstrated the failure mode for Supermain® was not radial through the wall section as it is with standard PVC-U pipe. The illustrations (left) depict the two failure modes
- Marshall also found that a notch in the pipe wall has the effect of only reducing the cross sectional area. The graph (below) shows that notched and un-notched test data follow the same relationship when the reduced wall thickness of notched specimens is taken into consideration.
¹ Marshall G.P. Report on Evaluation of Toughnes Criteria for HSPVC (Report prepared for Water Research, UK), 1989.
Embodied Energy
Embodied energy is defined as: "the quantity of energy required by all of the activities associated with a production process, including the relative proportions consumed in all activities upstream to the acquisition of natural resources and the share of energy used in making equipment and in other supporting functions i.e. direct energy plus indirect energy". A recent study by CSIRO² demonstrated the considerable reduction in embodied energy for PVC-O pipes when compared with alternative pipe materials based on equal hydraulic performance. The example below illustrates the benefit obtained by using Supermain® pipes.
² M.D. Ambrose, G.D. Salomonsson and S. Burn, CSIRO, Australia, "Piping Systems - Embodied Energy Analysis"
Supermain® Design and Installation
General
With some minor exceptions, the recommended procedures for design and installation of Supermain® pipes are the same as for standard PVC-U pipes. These are covered by AS 2032 - "Installation of PVC pipe systems". However, there are some aspects of design and installation for which either a different approach is required or a different response obtained from Supermain®. These differences are highlighted below. For detailed information on the design and installation of all PVC pipes, including Supermain®, refer to the Vinidex Water Supply Manual.
Temperature Considerations
Supermain® pipes are de-rated for temperature according to the International practice for PVC based pipe materials as shown in the below table. Supermain® pipes can be used for continuous service at temperatures up to 45°C³. Higher temperatures should be avoided as Supermain® will experience 'reversion' of the oriented structure at elevated temperatures, and may undergo significant dimensional distortion above 50°C. The operating temperature above refers to the average across the wall. Short term exposure on one surface to temperatures in excess of the maximum operating temperature, such as may occur during storage can be tolerated.
If extreme conditions are encountered for extended periods during pipe storage, some ovality may develop in the pipe or socket. This is of no consequence in the performance of the product and for jointing, Supermain® pipes are readily re-rounded in making the joint. If prolonged storage is expected, consideration
should be given to shading the pipe with a material such as shadecloth or hessian, which does not concentrate the heat, placed so as to not restrict the circulation of air in the pipes, as this has a cooling effect.
³ Water Authorities generally require temperatures of water supplies to be kept below 40°C to prevent growth of bacteria.
| Maximum allowable pressure (MPa) | |||||
| Pipe Material Temnperature | Re-rating Factor | PN10 | PN12.5 | PN16 | PN20 |
| 20 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.25 | 1.60 | 2.00 |
| 25 | 0.94 | 0.94 | 1.18 | 1.50 | 1.88 |
| 30 | 0.87 | 0.87 | 1.09 | 1.39 | 1.74 |
| 35 | 0.79 | 0.79 | 0.99 | 1.26 | 1.58 |
| 40 | 0.70 | 0.70 | 0.88 | 1.12 | 1.40 |
| 45 | 0.64 | 0.64 | 0.80 | 1.02 | 1.28 |
Fatigue Design
Where a pipeline is to be subjected to a large number of cyclic or repetitive loads, fatigue design must be considered. For Supermain® pipes, de¬rating may be required if the total number of cycles in the pipe lifetime exceeds 30 000. The fatigue design procedure is fairly straightforward. Three important factors must be considered. These are the loading frequency or number of cycles per day, the cyclic pressure range and the required service life of the pipe. For a given number of cycles, a fatigue cycle factor is referenced maximum cyclic pressure range (MCPR) for a particular pipe material and pressure class. The pressure range is simply the maximum pressure minus the minimum pressure, including all transients, experienced by the system during normal operations as illustrated in the diagram below. The effect of accidental conditions such as power failure may be excluded. Note that for fatigue loading situations, the maximum pressure reached in the repetitive cycle should not exceed the static pressure rating of the pipe. The diagram also illustrates the definition of a cycle as a repetitive event. In some cases, the cycle pattern will be complex and it may be necessary to also consider the contribution of secondary cycles. For a more detailed discussion of fatigue design for plastics pipes, including examples and a full list of references, please refer to Vinidex Technical Notes. To select the appropriate pipe class for fatigue loading, the following procedure should be adopted:
Chemical Resistance
PVC-O is expected to have the same inherent chemical resistance as PVC-U, as the chemical nature of the two materials is identical. However, since the information presented in chemical resistance tables has been determined for standard PVC-U and the effect of chemical attack on the different molecular structure of PVC-O has not been extensively investigated, the use of Supermain® pipes in chemical environments or for the transportation of chemicals is not recommended.
Lateral Loadings and Negative Pressures
The stiffness (lateral load for a given diametral deflection) is related to material modulus and the cube of the thickness. For PVC-O materials, the modulus is somewhat higher than that for standard PVC-U. However, the wall thickness is the overriding factor in determining the stiffness. Supermain® pipes have a significantly lower stiffness than standard PVC-U pipes of the same pressure class. This is important in determining the response to lateral loading, due to soil and traffic, and negative pressures due to vacuum, ground water etc. In general water supply works with buried pipes at normal covers, lateral stiffness will not be a limiting design factor and will not require special consideration. For abnormal conditions, design should be conducted in accordance with AS/NZS 2566. Vinidex recommends the following values be used for the ring bending modulus for Supermain® pipes:
| Short term ring bending modulus at 20°C Eb 400MPa |
| Long term ring bending modulus at 20°C EbL 400MPa |
Clearly, in this example, Supermain® pipe has an adequate factor of safety for a full vacuum. It should be noted that to obtain support from the soil, the embedment material must be properly placed and compacted, and stable against long term washout or leaching. For the case where a pipe has no lateral support from the soil, the unsupported critical buckling pressure must be considered. This may occur in above ground lines, or where an underground line emerges into a pit (unsupported length greater than 5 diameters). Buried pipes having cover less than two diameters or 500mm should also be considered unsupported. A table comparing the unsupported collapse pressures of Supermain® pipe with PVC-U is given below. This comparison is made using the short-term modulus at 20°C and would be applicable to a negative pressure associated with water hammer. Water hammer can normally be readily controlled with air valves and other devices to prevent negative surges, but under some circumstances this is not possible. Under these conditions, it can be seen that, despite having a much lower collapse pressure, the Supermain® pipe can still support a full vacuum with a safety factor of 1.5. Designers should also evaluate resistance to buckling for applications with significant long term negative pressures eg. the presence of groundwater.
| Supermain® 355 | Supermain® 400 | Supermain® 500 | Supermain® 500 | |
| PN10 | PM12.5 | PN16 | PN20 | |
| Buckling pressure | 540 | 590 | 590 | 740 |
| Pipe Type |
Unsupported Critical Buckling Pressure,Pc (kPa) Short term loading at 20°C |
| PVC-U less than D150 PN16 | 2930 |
| PVC-U greater than DN150 PN16 | 2100 |
| Supermain® 500 PN16 | 160 |
Jointing to Ductile Iron Fittings
Supermain® pipes may be jointed to ductile iron push fit and compression gasketed fittings. As with standard PVC-U, factory witness marks are not applicable when jointing to ductile iron fittings, and the spigots should be fully inserted to the stop. It is advisable before jointing to mark a witness line on the spigot at the appropriate length for the particular fitting so that full insertion can be observed. The depth of sockets on pipes and fittings must be sufficient to accommodate the axial movements due to the combined effect of a number of factors, such as thermal contraction and Poisson4 contraction which occurs when a pipe is pressurised. The Poisson effect is more significant for PVC-O pipes because of their higher operating stress. Vinidex Superlink Ductile Iron Fittings have socket
lengths adequate for all situations and are recommended for use with Supermain® pipe. Fittings sockets from other suppliers may be shorter and there may be risk of pull out depending on operating parameters. If necessary, short lengths or special anchorage may be used to compensate for short-socket fittings.
Service Connections
Service connections to Supermain® pipes are made using a suitable tapping band complying with AS/NZS 4793 (Int) - Mechanical tapping bands for waterworks purposes and the following considerations:
- Holes should be drilled using a hole saw
- Tapping bands having full circle support, an "O" or "V" seal, and positive stop against over-tightening are recommended for PVC-O pipes
Installation
Installation techniques for Supermain® pipes are similar to that used for standard PVC-U pipes. The lower wall thickness and stiffness of PVC-O pipes compared to PVC-U pipes makes it essential that recommended practices for installation are adhered to and the pipe is fully supported. Quality non cohesive material should be used for pipe bedding, side support and overlay. The pipe side support material should be placed evenly on both sides of the pipeline to two thirds the height of the pipe diameter and compacted by hand tamping. Side fill material should be worked under the sides of the pipe to eliminate all voids and provide maximum pipe haunching. The pipe overlay material should be levelled and compacted in layers to a minimum height of 150mm above the crown of the pipe or
as specified. The field testing procedures specified in AS2032 and the Vinidex PVC Technical Manual should also be followed for Supermain® pipelines.
4 Change in dimensions in the direction perpendicular to the direction of stress. Pipes contract in length when pressurised.
Supermain®'s environmental and engineering advantages means our PVC-O pipe is the high-performance, cost-effective pipe material choice for pressure applications.
Download our Supermain® PVC-O Pipes Brochure (1.59 MB)
For ordering information:
Ordering Information for Supermain® PVC-O